Cyclists: Accidents

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the latest available statistics concerning road collisions between heavy goods vehicles and cyclists who are killed or seriously injured as a result.

Earl Attlee: The information requested is given in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of pedal cyclists casualties in reported accidents involving heavy goods vehicles in Great Britain: 2006-2010 
			  Number of casualties 
			  2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Killed 25 33 27 19 20 
			 Serious 92 92 85 77 94 
			 Killed or seriously injured 117 125 112 96 114 
			 Slight 308 229 257 199 244 
			 Total 425 354 369 295 358

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support services are available for those who have undergone female genital mutilation; and where they are located.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they are providing to non-governmental organisations in disseminating information about female genital mutilation, through distribution of leaflets and other means.

Baroness Browning: The Government are absolutely committed to tackling and preventing female genital mutilation (FGM) and we recognise that a joined-up approach across front-line agencies is needed to safeguard girls and protect women. Tackling FGM forms a key part of The Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls: Action Plan, published in March this year.
	In 2010 we developed and distributed over 40,000 information leaflets and 40,000 posters that have been circulated to schools, health services, charities and community groups around the country. We have also established a regular forum for the voluntary and community sector to raise concerns with the Government and inform our work. This forum is also used to map community engagement work and identify best practice, such as the new multi-agency practice guidelines to help ensure that professionals are able and confident to intervene to protect girls at risk.
	There are 15 specialist clinics (as of March 2011) in the NHS which treat women and girls who have been subjected to FGM, all with trained and culturally sensitive staff who offer a range of healthcare services for women and girls including reversal surgery. Services are confidential and in many instances interpreters are available. These clinics are open to women to attend without referral from their own doctors and are funded by local PCTs.
	There locations can be found at using the following link: http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/resources/support/well-woman-clinics.

Forensic Science Service

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultations they conducted before deciding to abolish the Forensic Science Service.

Baroness Browning: The Home Office needed to find an operational and legal solution for the serious financial difficulties facing the Forensic Science Service. Once a way forward had been identified and tested with the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Home Office consulted across Government to ensure the wider interests of the criminal justice system would be protected.

Forensic Science Service

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment was made of the likely impact of the closure of the Forensic Science Service before the decision was taken.

Baroness Browning: The Home Office considered information from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and commercial advisers about the state of the market in general before the decision was made to manage the closure of the Forensic Science Service (FSS). We carefully considered all the available options to resolve the financial difficulties facing the FSS and the impact on the criminal justice system (CJS). ACPO has been clear from the outset that police forces and the forensics market could cope with the managed closure of the FSS.

Government Departments: Expenditure

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much each government department has spent on advertising and public relations since May 2010.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Through the implementation of strong controls on marketing and advertising, the Government have reduced expenditure through the Central Office of Information on relevant categories by 80 per cent, or £400 million, in 2010-11.
	The information requested is wide ranging and is not collected centrally. Each government department, agency and public body is responsible for setting its own communications priorities and outputs.
	In addition, each government department is now responsible for publishing details of all departmental expenditure over £25,000 on its website in accordance with HMT guidance.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the variation to the research project The Genetic Improvement of Miscanthus as a Sustainable Feedstock for Bioenergy in the UK; and why was the variation approved.

Lord Henley: All Defra evidence contracts are closely monitored by Defra specialists working with policy officials. Contract variations are required if there are significant changes to any of the details in the original agreement (eg costs, required outputs, timetable, research team, etc).
	In this instance the extension provided interim funding while joint funding arrangements with industry were put in place to take forward the work on improved genetic material of miscanthus for commercial cultivation.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the variation to the research project Wind Farm Noise Complaint Methodology; and why was the variation approved.

Lord Henley: All Defra evidence contracts are closely monitored by Defra specialists working with policy officials. Contract variations are required if there are significant changes to any of the details in the original agreement (eg costs, required outputs, timetable, research team, etc).
	The contract variation for the Wind Farm Noise Compliant Methodology research project (N00227) was to amend the project end-date and increase the project cost by £2,880.
	The additional cost was to cover revisions to the report in response to Defra comments, to further review existing research on wind turbine noise and update the literature review section accordingly, and to make any necessary revisions in light of comments from other government departments.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the variation to the research project Modelling of Tropospheric Ozone; and why was the variation approved.

Lord Henley: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave on 11 August (Official Report, col. WA 407).

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the variation to the research project Energy Dependency and Food Chain Security; and why was the variation approved.

Lord Henley: All Defra evidence contracts are closely monitored by Defra specialists working with policy officials. Contract variations are required if there are significant changes to any of the details in the original agreement (eg costs, required outputs, timetable, research team, etc).
	The project titled "Energy Dependency and Food Security" was initiated to examine the energy use associated with different food products, to investigate the relationships between energy and UK food prices and assess how energy price rises may influence food purchases.
	As a variation to the contract, the department agreed to extend this project from 1 April 2011 to 30 November 2011, with an additional payment of £59,779 (in financial year 2011-12) towards costs in order to increase the data set and also strengthen the evidence base on understanding energy dependency of the food chain and how it is managed.

Government Departments: Research and Data

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the variation to the research project Planet Helpline; and why was the variation approved.

Lord Henley: All Defra evidence contracts are closely monitored by Defra specialists working with policy officials. Contract variations are required if there are significant changes to any of the details in the original agreement (eg costs, required outputs, timetable, research team, etc).
	The variation made to the PLANET project was to extend the contract from 1 April 2011 to 31 December 2011 to provide support to industry users of PLANET following the release of a new version of the software in April 2011, to include a new approach to fertiliser recommendations for grassland fields. This enables farmers better to adjust fertiliser applications to their particular system and minimise over use.

Government Departments: Surveys

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the information collected in the YouGov Debt Tracker Survey.

Baroness Wilcox: The assessment of the information contained in the YouGov Debt Tracker Survey was included in a report published on the Department for Business website in June, Credit, Debt & Financial Difficulty in Britain, 2009-10. This is already publicly available at: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/consumer-issues/docs/c/11-963-credit-debt-in-britain-2009-10.

Health: Chromosomal Aberrations

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many patients have been diagnosed with chromosomal aberrations in the United Kingdom in the past five years for which figures are available.

Earl Howe: The department does not hold this information centrally.
	The testing for chromosomal aberrations is the core business for clinical genetics services, which are available in the regional genetic centres.

Health: Medical Research

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to streamline the compliance and approval processes for medical and health research; and when they intend to publish their proposals.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether primary legislation will be required to streamline the approval and compliance processes for NHS foundation trusts to take part in patient trials for medical and health related research; and, if not, how the Government will impose requirements on independent foundation trusts.

Earl Howe: At a national level, the Government will create a health research regulatory agency to combine and streamline the approvals for health research which are at present scattered across many organisations. This will reduce the regulatory burden on research-active businesses, universities and the National Health Service, improve the timeliness of decisions about research projects and hence the cost-effectiveness of their delivery in the United Kingdom. This action has clear support from the Academy of Medical Sciences review of health research regulation and governance. As a first step, the Government will establish this year a special health authority with the National Research Ethics Service as its core. The new agency will work closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to create a unified approval process and promote proportionate standards for compliance and inspection within a consistent national system of research governance.
	At a local level, the Government will radically transform the incentives for efficiency in research initiation and delivery. In May, the Government launched through the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) a framework of good practice and standard procedures called the NIHR Research Support Services to facilitate consistent local research management and greatly improve performance. NHS providers which adopt these standards will stop unnecessary duplication of checks. They will publish metrics regularly on their performance. They will have access to NIHR financial support for these activities. For clinical trials, the NIHR will from 2012 publish outcomes against public NIHR benchmarks, including an initial benchmark of 70 days or less from the time a provider receives a valid research protocol to the time when that provider recruits the first patient for that study. In future, NIHR funding to providers of NHS services will become conditional on meeting benchmarks, including the 70-day benchmark to recruit first patients for trials. The NIHR will make this a condition of new contracts from autumn 2011 and performance will affect funding from 2013.
	The Government published their intentions in the Plan for Growth in March 2011, available from HM Treasury. None of them requires legislation expressly for NHS foundation trusts.

Libya

Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Lord Strathclyde on 5 September (Official Report, col. 83), what are the terms of reference of Sir Peter Ricketts' review of the lessons learned from Operation Ellamy in Libya; and whether the Ricketts report will be made available to Parliament when completed.

Lord Strathclyde: As announced in the House on 5 September, the National Security Adviser is leading a study into the lessons learnt about how the new central co-ordination mechanisms around the National Security Council have operated during the Libya crisis. The length of time it takes will obviously depend on when the military operations end. The House will be informed of the conclusions from the National Security Adviser's study.

Olympic Games 2012: Torch

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Isles of Scilly will be included in the Olympic torch relay route.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is responsible for the Olympic torch relay. On 18 May LOCOG announced the 66 evening celebrations.
	LOCOG has not finalised the Olympic torch relay route at this stage. It has announced only where the evening celebrations will be, with the rest of the route still to be worked through. Many more towns, villages, and places of interest will be confirmed before the end of the year as the detail of each day is pieced together.
	LOCOG's aim is to take the Olympic flame to as many places as possible; to be within an hour's journey of 95 per cent of the population; and to showcase as much of the UK as possible. The route is being devised to achieve this. However, the relay lasts for just 70 days and LOCOG will have both geographical and time restraints to contend with.

Patrick Finucane

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Shutt of Greetland on 22 June (WA 316), when they are going to make a decision about the Finucane case.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: I am advised that a decision on the matter will be made soon.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Jopling: To ask the Leader of the House whether he has received any explanation from either the Secretary of State or the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office for the three Questions for Written Answer tabled in June remaining unanswered on 6 September, when the target time is 10 working days.

Lord Strathclyde: My office has been in contact with the Home Office officials in relation to the outstanding Questions for Written Answer and has been kept informed of the reasons for the continued delay. In the same way as other government departments, the Home Office aims to answer questions within the target time.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Jopling: To ask the Leader of the House what contacts he has made with the Home Office and the Cabinet Office to discuss those departments' failure to reply to eight of the 20 Questions for Written Answer tabled before the recess in June and July which remain unanswered on 5 September, despite the target of 10 working days.

Lord Strathclyde: My office makes regular contact with all government departments that are unable to meet the target of 10 working days to answer Questions for Written Answer. Every effort is made to address delays and to remind departments of their responsibilities to Parliament.

Railways: Rolling Stock

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the award of the Thameslink rolling stock contract in June, what plans they have for the use of the existing rolling stock; (a) how much of, (b) on what dates, and (c) to which franchises, the rolling stock will be transferred; and, if those decisions have not yet been made, when they expect them to be made.

Earl Attlee: The redeployment of rolling stock freed up by new trains introduced as part of the Thameslink programme is dependent on ongoing negotiations with train operators and the rolling stock leasing companies. Options for cascading this rolling stock include using it on commuter lines in the Thames Valley and those due to be electrified in the north-west.

Schools: Free Schools

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether free schools will be admitting excluded pupils from other schools.

Lord Hill of Oareford: All academies and free schools, through their funding agreement, are required to comply with the School Admissions Code and have to admit pupils without any reference to their past behaviour (except where a child has been permanently excluded on two occasions).
	The code sets out how pupils who have previously been excluded may be placed at another school.

Shipping: Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, and to what extent, the General Lighthouse Fund funded the cost of the Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007, (d) 2008, (e) 2009, and (f) 2010.

Earl Attlee: The programme has not been funded by the General Lighthouse Fund. The Corporation of Trinity House provided some funding of the programme through its charitable arm for the continuation of the programme.

Transport: Heavy Goods Vehicles

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what investment they propose for the reinforcement of roads and upgrading of bridges, tunnels or crossings before large heavy goods vehicles (megatrucks) are introduced; and who would meet such costs.

Earl Attlee: The Government have made it clear that longer and heavier vehicles, or megatrucks (ie vehicles typically 25.25 metres long) will not be allowed on the UK's roads for the foreseeable future.

Transport: Heavy Goods Vehicles

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the incidence of heavy goods vehicles using weight-restricted roads; how many prosecutions there have been for breaches of weight restrictions in the past 12 months for which figures are available; and whether they plan to increase enforcement of the restrictions.

Earl Attlee: The use of weight restricted roads by heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) is a matter for local authorities. Prosecution figures would be held by the police.
	The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) is responsible for the enforcement of overloaded HGVs. VOSA will continue to target over laden vehicles using target enforcement, through the use of weigh in motion sensors in balance with its other enforcement activities.

Transport: Heavy Goods Vehicles

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the formula they use for assessing road damage by heavy goods vehicles relies on the assessment of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials conducted in the 1970s; or whether they have relied on other relevant research conducted since then; and, if so, who conducted that research, and using what process.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport is not aware of the research by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Currently, for highways maintenance revenue funding, as part of the formula a factor is applied that takes into account annual traffic flows. This includes a 100:1 weighting for heavy goods vehicles as well as public service vehicles.